The Sepoy mutiny of 1857 is a well known Indian revolution during British colonization. It is sometimes referred to as the Great rebellion, Revolt of 1857 or the Sepoy mutiny. This revolt took the British by surprise when it began as they had been blinded by their thought that they had taken control over two thirds of India.
As a way of maintaining control over trade in India, the British East Indian Company decided to recruit native population or Sepoys into its troops. This move was also followed by the British government took the locals into their army. They then trained them on their fighting methods and how to use their weapons. They would later use them in fighting their conquests and maintaining stability.
The recruitment exercise saw the natives outnumber Europeans in the army. Using this strong army, the British were able to control two thirds of the land in the country. After which, they began to introduce their rules on the locals. This included their land ownership ways, missionary and evangelical activities, administration systems as well as their technology. To many, this was totally new things that made them uncomfortable.
There was tension among the local people due to these many changes. But they did not have the will to revolt. This was later to change as something happened that sparked the later then rebellion. In 1853, the British East India Company had decided to improve the firearms and introduced bullets that used paper cartridges which were greased. These weapons required the locals to tear the paper with their teeth in order to open the cartridges and load their firearms. Rumors then began escalating among the locals that the cartridges had been greased by oil from beef and pork fat.
As it would be expected, many natives did not like this. This is because according to Hindu religion, consumption of beef is forbidden as a cow is a holy animal. To the Islam, they would never come near pork as a pig is considered an unclean animal. Therefore this change weaponry by the colonialists was seen by the natives as an attempt of the Europeans to force them into Christianity.
Meerut was the place where this mutiny began since it was the first area to receive the new armaments. Any European who was found was brutally murdered. After they finished with this area, they moved to other regions namely; Rajputna, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Delhi, Oudh and Sahib. There were attempts by the British manufacturers to retain the cartridges to their original state but according to the locals, this only proved they were guilty.
Two months later into the revolution, it was revealed that more than two hundred women, men and children had been brutally murdered, the British decided to avenge these deaths. They would capture suspected rebels and then execute them. This they continued as retaliatory attacks for six months and they were able to restore their power in 1858.
Even though the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 did not free the Indians from their colonialists, it was a strong indicator to the Europeans that their activities had not gone down well with many. India would later get its independence from the colonialists in 1947. But the freedom fighters still remembered that the Sepoy mutiny was the start of their struggle for freedom.
As a way of maintaining control over trade in India, the British East Indian Company decided to recruit native population or Sepoys into its troops. This move was also followed by the British government took the locals into their army. They then trained them on their fighting methods and how to use their weapons. They would later use them in fighting their conquests and maintaining stability.
The recruitment exercise saw the natives outnumber Europeans in the army. Using this strong army, the British were able to control two thirds of the land in the country. After which, they began to introduce their rules on the locals. This included their land ownership ways, missionary and evangelical activities, administration systems as well as their technology. To many, this was totally new things that made them uncomfortable.
There was tension among the local people due to these many changes. But they did not have the will to revolt. This was later to change as something happened that sparked the later then rebellion. In 1853, the British East India Company had decided to improve the firearms and introduced bullets that used paper cartridges which were greased. These weapons required the locals to tear the paper with their teeth in order to open the cartridges and load their firearms. Rumors then began escalating among the locals that the cartridges had been greased by oil from beef and pork fat.
As it would be expected, many natives did not like this. This is because according to Hindu religion, consumption of beef is forbidden as a cow is a holy animal. To the Islam, they would never come near pork as a pig is considered an unclean animal. Therefore this change weaponry by the colonialists was seen by the natives as an attempt of the Europeans to force them into Christianity.
Meerut was the place where this mutiny began since it was the first area to receive the new armaments. Any European who was found was brutally murdered. After they finished with this area, they moved to other regions namely; Rajputna, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Delhi, Oudh and Sahib. There were attempts by the British manufacturers to retain the cartridges to their original state but according to the locals, this only proved they were guilty.
Two months later into the revolution, it was revealed that more than two hundred women, men and children had been brutally murdered, the British decided to avenge these deaths. They would capture suspected rebels and then execute them. This they continued as retaliatory attacks for six months and they were able to restore their power in 1858.
Even though the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 did not free the Indians from their colonialists, it was a strong indicator to the Europeans that their activities had not gone down well with many. India would later get its independence from the colonialists in 1947. But the freedom fighters still remembered that the Sepoy mutiny was the start of their struggle for freedom.
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